Viacom sues Google for more than $1bn

E-Brief News reports that Viacom is claiming that the more than 160 000 unauthorised video clips from its cable networks have been available on the popular video-sharing Web site. The lawsuit marks a sharp escalation of long-simmering tensions between Viacom and YouTube. The New York Times reports that the suit accuses Web search leader Google and YouTube of ‘massive intentional copyright infringement’ of Viacom\'s entertainment assets and seeks an injunction against future violations. ‘YouTube\'s strategy has been to avoid taking proactive steps to curtail the infringement on its site,’ Viacom said. ‘Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws.’ Viacom said its decision to sue Google followed ‘a great deal of unproductive negotiation’ with the company. Bloomberg.com reports that Google said it hasn\'t received the lawsuit. ‘YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders and believe the courts will agree,’ the company said. The suit was filed less than a week after Google CE Eric Schmidt said media companies will have no choice but to put their TV shows and movies on video sites such as YouTube. ‘The growth of YouTube, the growth of online, is so fundamental that these companies are going to be forced to work with and in the Internet,’ Schmidt said. Full report in The New York Times Full Bloomberg.com report